Chapter 440: Illusory Sigh |
The Hanged Man agreed to Lumian's request and instructed him to contact him through Magician.
After expressing their gratitude, Lumian and Franca left the captain's cabin and followed the creaking wooden planks, just wide enough for three people to walk side by side. In the dim torchlight, they returned to the deck.
They noticed that Alger wasn't alone on the ghost ship, the Blue Avenger. A dozen sailors were scattered around, hiding in the shadows and making no attempts to approach.
Suddenly, Lumian and Franca witnessed a brilliant star hanging in front of them. It gleamed with an eerie, blue light, as though it had emerged from another realm.
The star expanded rapidly, as if it had descended to the ground in an instant. Its radiant glow enveloped everything in its vicinity.
Lumian and Franca blinked, momentarily blinded by the starlight. When their vision cleared, they found themselves back in Room 207 of Auberge du Coq Doré.
"A-absolutely stunning!" Franca exclaimed, her face brimming with longing.
She lamented the fact that her only option for switching paths was to become a Hunter, unable to experience the carefree life of an Apprentice. She could only hope to acquire a Sealed Artifact with similar abilities in the future.
Lumian, lost in thought, didn't echo Franca's praise.
"Gathering 100,000 verl d'or in gold should be a breeze for a treasure hunter as formidable as a Pirate King. Coming up with those three questions shouldn't take long, yet Mr. Hanged Man only sought you out to summon the Armored Shadow after all these days, and it happened after he arrived in Trier.
"Besides, Madam Magician could easily transport us to the sea and the Blue Avenger before sending us back. So, why wait for Mr. Hanged Man to arrive in Trier to do so?"
Lumian smiled, praising Franca's astute observation.
"You're quite perceptive this time. It seems that putting your brain to work has its benefits. Idleness can give the impression of a lack of intelligence."
"Dammit, are you praising me or insulting me?" Franca retorted, her brow furrowed. "Either Mr. Hanged Man was in some unique situation that prevented an individual from pinpointing his location, or he has other motives for being in Trier…"
At this point, Lumian and Franca both remembered the impending catastrophe and felt the ominous pressure of an approaching storm hanging over the city.
"Could the Tarot Club be dispatching more Major Arcana card holders to Trier? Perhaps to protect as many citizens as possible if we fail to avert the disaster?" Franca speculated.
Lumian nodded thoughtfully, refraining from argument.
After a moment of silence, Franca changed the topic with enthusiasm, exclaiming, "I want to become a demigod. I want to amass gold!"n/.--)-).---(I-(n
Observing Lumian's inquisitive expression, Franca continued, driven by her desires, "That way, I can have you summon the Armored Shadow and ask the questions I've been itching to ask. No need to rely on the protection of Major Arcana card holders!"
"Then give it your all, Miss Pleasure," Lumian teased.
…
The next day, just before noon, Lumian returned from Rue des Fontaines. He led Jenna underground to the third level of the catacombs, arriving at a small square with two sacrificial pillars.
Puzzled, Jenna asked, "Why did you bring me here?"
If she didn't know Lumian well enough to understand his character, she might have suspected that her friend suddenly had sinister intentions.
Lumian, wearing a black satchel slung diagonally across him, stood confidently with his hands in his pockets. He smiled and explained, "I'm giving you the safest environment for your advancement."
Having heard Franca's account and Madam Magician's words, Lumian had reason to believe that Sequence 0 of the Assassin pathway, the true goddess worshiped by the Demoness Sect, was likely a woman who had transformed from a man, and Her nature was deeply twisted.
It was said that this Primordial Demoness was driven by pain and a desire to replicate Her experiences through the generations. Consequently, She despised ordinary women who became Witches. Even the Demoness Sect hunted down female Assassins, female Instigators, and true Witches.
Given this context, Jenna's consumption of the Witch potion might be affected. After all, even the Hidden Sage, an existing occupying Sequence 0, could subtly influence every Beyonder of the Mystery Pryer pathway while they consumed the potion for their advancement. He whispered to them and imparted knowledge to them. There was no reason the true evil goddess, Primordial Demoness, couldn't exert significant influence on the Witches.
At lower Sequences, the influence shouldn't be too strong—even Aurore had advanced to Sequence 7 and become a Warlock under the Hidden Sage's constant whispers. However, it was better to be cautious. Since there was a way to reduce or weaken these influences, it made sense to do so.
Witches represented the first qualitative transformation of the Assassin pathway, perhaps even the core essence of Demoness. The Primordial Demoness, who sought to change men into women, would likely pay more attention to this particular Sequence advancement. Neither Franca nor Lumian wanted Jenna to take unnecessary risks.
Of course, Madam Magician had occasionally mentioned that this evil goddess wasn't in a stable state.
"The safest?" Jenna looked around, still somewhat unconvinced.
The surroundings were immersed in darkness, and corpses were scattered about. How did it seem safe?
Only the two weathered stone pillars appeared strangely warm and calming.
Lumian briefly explained the unique nature of the sacrificial square and concluded, "At the pinnacle of the Assassin pathway is an evil goddess. No one knows if She might suddenly lose Her sanity. Deities of the same pathway have the ability to influence Beyonders when They consume potions for advancement. This, well, divine manifestation, complicates things."
"This place can significantly weaken that connection."
Jenna listened intently and approached the stone pillar engraved with the Sun Sacred Emblem. She extended her arms slightly and began to pray.
Noticing that she hadn't asked Franca why she hadn't been affected by this before, Lumian raised his right hand, stroked his chin, and clicked his tongue.
"Praise the Sun!" Jenna sang praises to the Eternal Blazing Sun reverently as she concluded her prayer.
Lumian remained silent as he handed Jenna the Witch Beyonder characteristic, Shadow Lizard scales, and other ingredients from the black satchel.
He had used her 10,000 verl d'or to obtain these items from Gardner Martin.
Jenna examined the dark-blue vertical eye-like "jewel" and the intricate thread-like patterns on its surface. She knelt on one knee and began concocting the potion on the unusually clean square ground.
Before long, she held a dark-red potion with concealed shadows in her hand.
Jenna steadied herself, feeling as though she had been pushed forward by various events in the past few months. She couldn't stop now.
Perhaps this is my destiny… Praise the Sun! Jenna closed her eyes and added silently in her heart, Praise The Fool!
At this critical moment, in her quest for smooth advancement and survival, her faith inadvertently shifted.
This was partly because Franca and Lumian seemed relatively relaxed about consuming potions and advancing their Sequences. At the very least, they both believed in Mr. Fool.
Without hesitation, Jenna swallowed the potion, fully accepting the notion that she had been dead when she assassinated Hugues Artois.
The potion was icy and illusory, like melting frost. Jenna quickly began to feel an itching, painful sensation spreading all over her body.
Her thoughts began to blur, and she felt as though she were slowly sinking into water.
Suddenly, excruciating pain surged throughout her body, jolting Jenna back to full awareness. She found herself surrounded by black, silent flames that were slowly consuming her.
Above her, a translucent layer of frost-encased ice, like a mirror, prevented Jenna from escaping the black flames.
In the next instant, a face and a figure materialized on the ice.
The face bore an uncanny resemblance to Jenna's own!
The figure was another Jenna, but her master hand had transformed into her left!
The Jenna above the ice stared at the figure engulfed by the black flames with anticipation and desire.
Experienced in combat, Jenna reacted quickly despite her surprise and horror. She summoned all her strength and delivered a powerful punch upward.
The ice shattered without a sound, and the "corrupted" Jenna plunged into the black flames.
In the distance, a python-like black object swayed gently, with a dark-blue vertical eye at its tip.
The bizarre "python" vanished in an instant, not entering the area. Instead, it delved into a black shadow.
Almost simultaneously, Jenna heard a long, painful sigh.
The ethereal sigh seemed to emanate from very close to her, as if it originated from the vicinity of the sacrificial square and the surrounding corpses.
The black shadow cast by the strange serpent expanded wildly, growing larger and fainter.
It enveloped Jenna and the malevolent figure and seeped into their bodies.
Jenna refused to surrender. Enduring the pain and dizziness, she crawled out of the abyss of black flames and onto the nearby ice. The black shadow weakened and ceased its pursuit. It could only drag the malevolent Jenna into an unfathomable abyss.
The scene shattered instantly, and Jenna's vision returned to normal. She saw the mottled stone pillar engraved with the Sun Sacred Emblem.
Her face contorted, but the pain in her body gradually subsided.
Lumian watched as the black flames on Jenna's body rapidly shrank and dissipated, while the surrounding frost melted. He understood that his companion had successfully advanced to Sequence 7 and had become a Witch.
Only then did he turn his gaze towards the edge of the sacrificial square, where the tomb and the surrounding corpses lay in darkness.
Not long after Jenna consumed the potion, he sensed an anomaly in that direction. However, nothing entered the clean square with the two sacrificial pillars.
When Jenna's unusual state finally subsided, she rose to her feet and noticed Lumian gazing into the distance. Puzzled, she asked, "After drinking the potion, I thought I heard a sigh from over there."
Lumian nodded slowly and replied, "On this level of the catacombs, there's a Krismona Night Pillar. It represents a Demoness of Catastrophe who once met her end here."
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